By Signe Bak Pedersen, Student Assistant, AAU Communication. Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication

When the government came up with an energy saving plan in September due to the international energy crisis, Campus Service at Aalborg University (AAU) then had an urgent task. The temperature had to be turned down to 19 degrees in all AAU's buildings and all unnecessary outdoor lighting had to be turned off by 1 October. One of the people assigned this task is Jesper Søholm. He’s located at Fredrik Bajers Vej 1 where he works as an electrician at Campus Service.

Although many staff members certainly preferred the previous thermostat setting of 21-22 degrees, Jesper Søholm was pleasantly surprised by how AAU staff members welcomed him when he showed up with his equipment.

- The vast majority showed great understanding. Of course, a few people complained, but many are also worried and think we should do even more, says Jesper Søholm.

A good study and working environment

Even though we need to save on electricity, it is important for Jesper Søholm to maintain a good study and working environment. For example, in the laboratories, it can be important to maintain a stable temperature for experiments, and it also doesn’t help if the lights go out in the middle of an experiment.

A good study environment is also important to keep in mind. As it stands now, a lot of refrigerators at the various Friday bars around AAU are on all week, and Jesper Søholm sees this as an opportunity to save on electricity.

- If the Friday bars have weekday events, it's suddenly not so straightforward to just turn off the power. We save, but we still need to have a good study environment and working environment. So we talk with the groups that may have special circumstances, and then we find a solution together, says Jesper Søholm. 

As you know, the temperature was the first thing that needed to be adjusted after the government came up with the savings plan, and Campus Service achieved this before the October 1st deadline. Much of the work was done behind a computer as most of the new buildings are controlled by a complex digital system.

However, there are also tasks that required some elbow grease and good old-fashioned manual labour - Jesper Søholm and his colleagues physically adjusted the exterior lighting on campus so that now only every third lamppost lights up.

But each adjustment brings new challenges.

- We need to save on energy, but it shouldn't be unsafe or dangerous to walk around out here, tripping over something, Jesper Søholm said.

It works!

Even though the energy saving measures have not been a part of everyday life for that long, Jesper Søholm says that Campus Service can already see a decrease in energy consumption.

- We can certainly learn something from the savings and measures from this year once we are on the other side of the energy crisis. How much or how little it’s too soon to say, but when we get back to normal, we will evaluate and see what measures we can retain, says Jesper Søholm and continues:

- But we need help! We need to save on electricity, and I hope that people will continue to speak up and suggest ideas on where and how we can save on energy, says Jesper Søholm.

He refers to the AAU Building Support App and its new feature where staff and students can submit suggestions on where and how AAU can save further on energy.

Read more about how you can help AAU save energy here.